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Mavericks clean up their game

Mesa routs Regis in series finale

Colorado Mesa’s baseball team washed more than its uniforms Saturday night.

The Mavericks washed away the feeling of their first loss in three weeks, bouncing back Sunday to defeat Regis 9-1 at Suplizio Field. It was their 11th consecutive series win of the season.

“I think (the team) responded pretty good,” CMU coach Chris Hanks said. “They came to the park ready to go. They cleaned their unis up, which we asked them to do.”

At times this season, the players have preferred not to wash their uniforms during a series when they’re winning.

“They have a tendency to want to be dirt bags,” Hanks joked. “If you’re winning, I’m OK with that, but we lost a game. We said, ‘Make sure you get those uniforms washed up.’ We got them dirty again, but we’re winning.”

The fourth-ranked Mavericks (37-7, 31-3 RMAC) have already clinched the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title and will host the RMAC tournament May 8-11 at Suplizio Field.

Mesa is ranked No. 1 in the South Central Region and would host the region tournament May 16-19 if it is No. 1 in the final NCAA regional poll May 12.

Mesa played well enough to win for the fourth consecutive Sunday and in the fifth consecutive series finale.

“We needed to go at them from the first inning on and crush their dreams, you could say,” CMU pitcher Kyle Davis said. “I think we did a really good job of that.

“Yesterday, it seemed like we were tired and we gave them hope and made them think they can hang with us. We’re a much better club than that, and I think we came out and showed it.”

Davis (7-0) had his longest outing of the season in terms of innings pitched to earn the win.

The junior limited the Rangers (23-15, 18-14 RMAC) to one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in seven innings.

Seven of the eight strikeouts were looking.

“The first two innings, the umpire was a little tight and not giving me the low corners,” Davis said. “We talked about it in the dugout. We said if we stick with those same spots he’ll start calling them. We did and they never adjusted. They never swung at the two-strike fastball.”

The Mavericks have won every start since Davis has started this season. In fact, Davis is 15-0 in his 21 career starts, dating back to 2009.

“He’s pretty low-key,” Hanks said. “He’s pretty steady. He’s not overly excitable. I think it allows him to pitch on an even keel and not ride an emotional roller coaster.

“That’s why we pitched him as a true freshman at the World Series. He’s been through some tough times, but he’s bounced back and getting better every week.”

Davis received all the run support he needed in the second inning when Justin Rosales doubled home a run and scored on Austin Kaiser’s single.

Kevin Mitchell hit his third home run of the four-game series, a three-run shot, in the third, for a 5-0 lead.

It was Mitchell’s team-leading seventh home run of the season.

Mesa added two runs in the sixth. Austin Wallingford had an RBI triple, then Kaiser followed with an RBI single.

Nate Robertson homered in the seventh. Jake Kluge followed with a double, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Rosales’ sacrifice fly.

Regis starter Nick Capra (2-2) gave up five runs on five hits and five walks in 2 2/3 innings of work.